Improvement in cotton-pickers



'J'. GRIFFIN. Cottqn Picker.

Patented Jahy 22, 1861.

Nav-31,165.

TH: nomas Psrzns co., wAsmNcraN, n. c

' UNITED STATES'- NPlrreNr Garten.

.ioHN GRIFFIN, or toUisVIuLE, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN OOTTN-PlCVKERS.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent' No. SLB-65, dated January 72'?, 186i.

To all whom tt mary concern Be it known that LJoHN GRIFFIN, ofy Louisville, in the county'ot' Jefferson andState of Kentucky,have invented a new and Improved Cotton-Picker; and I do hereby declare that the following is a -full, clear, and exact description of, the saine, reference being had to the an .hex-ed drawings, making a part of this specivcation,in which- Figure 1 is a vertical central sectiouof my invention; Fig. 2, a horizontal section of Fig. 1,' taken in the line d Similar letters'of reference indica-te corresponding parts in the two figures.

This invention relates toan improvement iu cotton-picking cups for which Letters Patent were granted to me bearing date March and November 22, 185i).

'The object of thewithin-descrihed inventiorri's-toobtaiu a'device'which will be automatic in its action, and thereby greatly facilitate the' manual operation, of the device, and y also'econeniize in the consumption of power f required to produce the necessary exhaust and suction -.within the tubes to which the picking-v cups are attached.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully unf derstand and construct 'my invention, l -will 'proceed to 'describe it. A,1Fig. 1, represents a, metal tube, ot' suitable diameter, which is provided with a daring or trumpetshaped endpiece, B, at one end and with a valve, C, atthe opposite end. .The valve C may' be constructed ot' a thin gutta-percha lorindia-rubbei` tube or pocket, having metal springs a a' attached to its outer side at opposite points, said springs having a. tendency to'keep the valve gently closed. (See Figs. 1

and 3.) 'The valve G-is encompassed bya tube, D, which is attached at one end to tube A and at the opposite `end to atlexible tubefwhich I conducts the cotton from the bolls into thererod G is'providedwilh a conical valve, d, which ts against a corre'spondingash-aped seat,e,

within the tube F. The opposite end of rod G passes through an india-rubber head, f, which may be secured to the end of tube F by au annular nut, g, provided with a cross-bar, It, to serve as a support vto rod G. The elastic head f is sufficiently full to admit of acertaiu degree of play of the rod G, and the rod is secured tothe head by metal disks it, one bei'ng at each side of the ,rubber and forming an air-tightand secnreconnection. Theouterend ofthe rod G has. a spring, H, attached to it, and this spring` is connected to a screw-rod, j,

'which passes through an arm, K, attached to tube F. The screw-rod 9' has a thumb-nut, k, on it for the purpose of regulating the tension of' spring H. Thepart of the tube F below or at the outer side of valve d. communicates by means of asmall pipe, l, with a tube, L'to which a suction-tube is attached, andthe tube F communicates with tube I atthe inner side vot' the valve (l by a pipe, m, much smaller in diameter than l, the pipe ni having a small y opening, m', in it. p

' 'The operation of the abovedescribed parts` is as follows: When the deviceis in operation a suction is, produced in the tube I, and the end B being open,there will be a suction in tube A, pipe c, tube F,`and pipe Qn, as indicated by the red arrows; but the spring H is so adjusted as to" keep the valve d closed, so

that the suction or draw in pipe l cannot'open it when the end piece, B, is open.- When the end piece, B, isy placed over a cotton-'bollthe suction in A is. `ot' course greatly increased and the tension ot'spring H is overcome so that the draw will be through both pipes l m. The boll will then be detached from thestanding stalk, and will have sufficient im petusgiven it to pass `through tube A and through the flexible tube into the receiver. The valve (jA closes forcibly under the suction in A when the end piece is placed over lthe boll, the suction being sufficient to press the sp1-ings a av toward each other. When, however, the'cotton passes the perforations Al) and strikes the l valves the compressed springs a .cause the valve to lyopen and th'ecotton'passes through without'much friction. It will be seen that the closing of the valve 'C is essential in order it. As soon as the cotton passes the perforations b the suction in the Atubes A F' is diminished and the valve d closes, and as the suction is then through the *small pipe l only it i will be seen that the suction is not very great,

and therefore not much power is expended in keeping up the exhaust or suction while the implement is being adjusted by the operator from boll to boil.

This device, therefore, is perfectly automatic in its operation, requiring no manipulation whatever, with the exception of adjusting it tu the bells. A

.- Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v The arrengeneut, for joint operation, of `the' tubes A F I, valves() d, and pipes lm, essen tially as and for the purposeset forth;

JOHN GRIFFIN. Witnesses:

B. F.A CAMP, JOHN K. LANE. 

